Are you all caught up on our Church On The Blog series yet? We hope it makes for brighter Mondays. Speaking of Mondays… When a new week rolls around, most people experience the dreaded Monday blues (surprisingly enough, even when they don’t have typical 9-5 jobs—that post-weekend disappointment still comes in waves). There’s just SOMETHING about a Monday that causes everything to go wrong.

It’s impossible difficult on days like Mondays to perk yourself up. You consume copious amounts of coffee, you put on a killer Pandora station, but your mood isn’t having it. What can you do to turn it around?

It really IS just as much work to be sad or angry or frustrated as it is to do the chin up, power through kinda thing. The emotions come just as fast – getting annoyed by a colleague or taking an email a bit too personally – but the work it takes to maintain them? It could go either way.

Here are some ways you can stop working to be sad – like being thrown off my Mondays, letting little things get under your skin – and start working to be strong:

Breathe, breathe, breathe

Repeat this simple exercise of breathing in for four counts, holding it for four counts, and breathing out for four counts, until you feel a wave of calm. Then keep going for a little longer until it really sticks. Resume your day to day, and stop and really, truly breathe whenever needed.

Text an old friend

Break up the routine by reaching out to someone you haven’t heard from in awhile. (If you’re not feeling so hot, you might start thinking of why you haven’t heard from them, and maybe remember a tiny grudge you’ve been holding about how they never call. I’m telling you just forget it and send the text.)

Write something motivational

Take a quick break from the grind for a little mind trick. Sometimes faking it can actually transform your mood. This is helpful if you have to be in a meeting or at an event and really can’t find a way to cheer up. Give yourself a little pep talk and keep it handy for later.

Really stuck? Read my encouragement here. Now, YOUR quick pick-me-ups…Go!